The
San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic
mountain rangeA mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes,...
(consisting of extinct volcanoes) located in north central
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
, just north of
FlagstaffFlagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In July 2006, the city's estimated population was 58,213. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was estimated at 127,450 in 2007. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
.
The highest summit in the range,
Humphreys PeakHumphreys Peak is the highest point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of . and is located within Kachina Peaks Wilderness in Coconino County, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of ancient volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks...
, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded
stratovolcanoA stratovolcano, sometimes called a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano with many layers of hardened lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions. The lava that flows from stratovolcanoes tends to be viscous; it...
. An
aquiferAn aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
within the
calderaA caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Portuguese caldeira, and this...
supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is located within the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
and is the site of much outdoor recreation.
The
San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic
mountain rangeA mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes,...
(consisting of extinct volcanoes) located in north central
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
, just north of
FlagstaffFlagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In July 2006, the city's estimated population was 58,213. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was estimated at 127,450 in 2007. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
.
The highest summit in the range,
Humphreys PeakHumphreys Peak is the highest point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of . and is located within Kachina Peaks Wilderness in Coconino County, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of ancient volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks...
, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded
stratovolcanoA stratovolcano, sometimes called a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano with many layers of hardened lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions. The lava that flows from stratovolcanoes tends to be viscous; it...
. An
aquiferAn aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
within the
calderaA caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Portuguese caldeira, and this...
supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is located within the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
and is the site of much outdoor recreation. The ski resort of the "Arizona Snowbowl" is located on the western slopes of Humphrey's Peak.
History
In 1629, one hundred and forty seven years before
San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
, received that name, Spanish friars founded a
mission at a
HopiThe Hopi are American Indians people who primarily live on the 12,635 km² Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi Reservation is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation. The two nations used to share the Navajo-Hopi Joint Use Area...
Indian village in honor of
St. FrancisSaint Francis of Assisi was a Catholic deacon and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans....
, sixty five miles from the Peaks. 17th century
FranciscanThe term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders, also known as the Orders of Friars Minor, that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St. Francis", or a member of one of these orders. As well as Roman Catholic there are also small Old Catholic and...
s at Oraibi village gave the name San Francisco to the peaks to honor St.
Francis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was a Catholic deacon and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans....
, the founder of their order.
The
Mountain manMountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 to the early 1840s. Although primarily of Canadian or American origin, mountain men were ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse...
Antoine LerouxJoaquin Antoine Leroux, aka Watkins Leroux,was a celebrated 19th century mountain man and trail guide based in New Mexico. Leroux was a member of the convention that organized New Mexico Territory.-Biography:...
visited the San Francisco Peaks in the mid-1850s, and guided several American expeditions exploring and surveying northern Arizona. Leroux guided them to the only reliable spring, one on the western side of the Peaks, which was later named Leroux Springs.
Around 1877, John W. Young, a son of the Mormon leader
Brigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the western United States. He was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death and was the founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of Utah Territory,...
, claimed the area around Leroux Springs, and he built Fort Moroni, a log
stockadeA stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.- Stockade as a security fence :...
, to house railroad tie-cutters for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, which was then being built across northern Arizona.
The biologist
Clinton Hart MerriamClinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer.He was born in New York City in 1855. His father, Clinton Levi Merriam, was a U.S. congressman. He studied biology and anatomy at Yale University and went on to obtain an M.D...
studied these mountains and surrounding areas in 1889, describing a set of six
life zoneThe Life Zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation are similar to the changes seen with an increase in...
s found from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the summit of the mountains, based on the factors of elevation, latitude, and average precipitation. He designated their characteristic flora, as follows:
- Lower Sonoran Zone - Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur...
plants
- Upper Sonoran Zone - Pinyon and Juniper woodlands
- Transition Zone - Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine , sometimes called Bull Pine or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane. It is a dominant tree in the Kuchler plant association Ponderosa...
forests
- Canadian Zone - Mixed Conifer Forest
- Hudsonian Zone - Spruce-Fir or Subalpine Conifer Forest
- Arctic-Alpine Zone - alpine tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
Merriam considered that these life zones could be extended to cover all the world's vegetation types with the addition of only one more zone, the tropical zone. His pioneering studies remained the one of the most widespread climate zone classifications, in use for nearly 80 years.
In 1898, U.S. President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
established the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve, at the request of
Gifford PinchotGifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the Governor of Pennsylvania...
, the head of the U.S. Division of Forestry. The local reaction was hostile -- citizens of
Williams, ArizonaWilliams is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Its population was 2,842 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,094. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak train route...
, held a significant protest, and the
Williams News editorialized that the reserve "virtually destroys Coconino County." In 1908, the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve became a part of the new
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
.
The San Francisco Peaks have had a considerable religious significance to thirteen local
American IndianNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
tribes (including the Havasupai,
NavajoThe Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American homeland covering about 26,000 square miles , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
,
HopiThe Hopi are American Indians people who primarily live on the 12,635 km² Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi Reservation is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation. The two nations used to share the Navajo-Hopi Joint Use Area...
, and
ZuniThe Zuni or A:shiwi are a Native American tribe, one of the Pueblo peoples, most of whom live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States...
.) In particular, the peaks form the Navajo sacred mountain of the west, called the
Dook'o'oosłííd in their language. The peaks are associated with the color yellow, and they are said to contain
abaloneAbalone are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
inside, to be secured to the ground with a sunbeam, and to be covered with yellow clouds and evening twilight. They are gendered female.
The mountain provides a number of recreational opportunities, including wintertime snow
skiingSkiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and
hikingHiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking have been confirmed in studies...
the rest of the year. Hart Prairie is a popular hiking area and Nature Conservancy preserve nestled just below the mountain's ski resort,
Arizona SnowbowlArizona Snowbowl is an alpine ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks, 7 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The base elevation of the facility sits at 9,200 feet and the resort receives an average snowfall of 260 inches . It boasts a drop, the largest in Arizona, and has 4 lifts servicing...
. Recently, the Arizona Snowbowl proposed a plan to expand the ski resort and begin
snowmakingSnowmaking is the production of artificial snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun" or "snow cannon", on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their...
using
reclaimed waterReclaimed water, sometimes called recycled water, is former wastewater that has been treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and then allowed to recharge the aquifer rather than being discharged to surface water. This recharging is often done by using the treated wastewater for irrigation...
. A coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups is suing the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
, which leases the land to the ski resort, in an attempt to stop this proposed expansion.
Sudden and relatively unpredictable weather changes in the fall or spring have resulted in unexpected snowfall bringing deaths from exposure to unprepared hikers. Native Americans tell the stories of
KachinaA kachina is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village , Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo...
spirits appearing during heavy snowfalls onto the peaks.
Geography
The four highest individual peaks in Arizona are contained in the range:
- Humphreys Peak
Humphreys Peak is the highest point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of . and is located within Kachina Peaks Wilderness in Coconino County, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of ancient volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks...
, 12,633 feet (3,851 m)
- Agassiz Peak
Agassiz Peak is the second highest mountain in U.S. state of Arizona at . It is located in the San Francisco Peaks within the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona. The peak was named for Louis Agassiz, the celebrated naturalist....
, 12,356 feet (3,766 m)
- Fremont Peak
Fremont Peak is in the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona. It is the third highest point in the state of Arizona. The peak is within the Coconino National Forest and the Kachina Peaks Wilderness...
, 11,969 feet (3,648 m)
- Aubineau Peak, 11838 feet (3,608 m)
- Rees Peak, 11,474 feet (3,497 m)
- Doyle Peak
Doyle Peak is in the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona and is the fourth highest peak, but the sixth highest named point in the state of Arizona with an elevation of 11,460 feet. Both Aubineau Peak and Rees Peak are higher, but they do not have enough prominence from their neighbors to be...
, 11,460 feet (3,493 m)
The San Francisco Peaks are the home of the only alpine tundra environment in Arizona, the only place where the
threatenedThreatened species are any species which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future.World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: vulnerable, endangered, and critically...
San Francisco Peaks groundsel
(Senecio franciscanus) is found.
Names
- Dook'o'oosłííd—Diné (Navajo
Navajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwest United States by the Navajo people...
)
- Nuva'tuk-iya-ovi—Hopi
The Hopi are American Indians people who primarily live on the 12,635 km² Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi Reservation is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation. The two nations used to share the Navajo-Hopi Joint Use Area...
- Dził Tso—Dilzhe’e Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the American Southwest. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, and are related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
- Tsii Bina—Aa'ku (Acoma
Acoma may refer to:* Acoma Pueblo, a Native American pueblo* Acoma Township, McLeod County, Minnesota, United States* USS Acoma, two ships of the United States Navy...
)
- Nuvaxatuh—Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute)
- Hvehasahpatch or Huassapatch—Havasu 'Baaja (Havasupai)
- Wik'hanbaja—Hwal`bay (Hualapai
The Hualapai are a tribe of Native Americans who live in the mountains of northwestern Arizona, United States. The name is derived from "hwal," the Yuman word for pine, "Hualapai" meaning "people of the tall pine"...
)
- Wimonagaw'a—Yavapai
Yavapai Yavapai Yavapai (sometimes translated as mouthy, or talkative people, but generally translated as People of the Sun because they worshipped the sun. The Western Yavapai call themselves Tolkapaya, the Northeastern Yavapai call themselves Yavapé, the Southeastern Yavapai call themselves...
- Sunha K'hbchu Yalanne—A:shiwi (Zuni
The Zuni or A:shiwi are a Native American tribe, one of the Pueblo peoples, most of whom live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States...
)
- 'Amat 'Iikwe Nyava—Hamakhav (Mojave
Mojave is the native language of the Mohave people along the Colorado River in eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Nevada...
)
- Sierra sin Agua Spanish
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
- The Peaks—Anglo
The term Anglo is used as a prefix to indicate a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas,...
Arizonans
Source:
Publications
External links